


The Time Luke Was Late

by Eggward_the_3rd



Series: Time After Time [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:14:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28076811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggward_the_3rd/pseuds/Eggward_the_3rd
Summary: Luke was late. Which wasn’t unusual, he had a tendency to show up a few minutes late, out of breath with a wild excited look in his eyes and his notebook full of new ideas. This time was different, it was half an hour after rehearsal was supposed to start and the boys were getting worried.
Series: Time After Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157372
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	The Time Luke Was Late

Luke was late. Which wasn’t unusual, he had a tendency to show up a few minutes late, out of breath with a wild excited look in his eyes and his notebook full of new ideas. This time was different, it was half an hour after rehearsal was supposed to start and the boys were getting worried. 

Alex paced the floor, drumming lightly and nervously on his thigh. Reggie picked anxiously at a hangnail, glancing at the door every few seconds. Bobby was trying to complete his homework but was struggling to focus. They all knew things at the Patterson household had been tense for a while, they knew Luke’s parents were becoming increasingly frustrated with his dedication to the band and that they had recently started doling out stronger punishments. Just last week they had grounded Luke for breaking curfew, and he had only been a few minutes late. They wondered if maybe Luke was grounded again, but even when he was his parents always let him call to tell them. No, something was decidedly wrong.

“How late is he now?” Reggie asked quietly.  
“Forty-five minutes.” Replied Bobby, anyone who didn’t know him would have thought he sounded distant, cold, but Reggie and Alex could hear the concern in his voice.

At long last they heard the clicking of Luke’s bike chain as he rode into the driveway. In spite of the snow on the ground Luke rode his bike everywhere. Bobby and Reggie both stood up from their seats on the couch and Alex stopped pacing. They heard Luke rest his bike against the door and waited with bated breath as he came in.

Luke stepped inside and froze briefly under their concerned gazes. He knew his eyes were red and his nose was running. Sniffling slightly he brushed his nose impatiently with his shirt sleeve. He was shivering, which made sense given that it was a week before Christmas and he was only wearing a thin shirt. Still, this shirt had sleeves, unlike most of his wardrobe and he was wearing one of his signature tuques. 

“Where were you?” Asked Alex, careful to keep his tone unaccusing.  
Shrugging his guitar case off his back Luke turned away from his friends. He took his time putting down the acoustic and his overstuffed backpack. In what was clearly an attempt to pull himself together they saw him take a deep breath before turning back around.

“Home.” He said in a slightly wavering voice and with a slight shrug, a failed attempt at nonchalance. He walked over to where his electric guitar stood and said in a false light voice, “Ready to practice?”

Bobby, Alex and Reggie shared a concerned glance. Luke’s tight stance and uncomfortable demeanor was not lost on them. Silently they agreed not to prod, they would wait for Luke’s cue and be ready when he wanted to talk. 

“Sure,” Said Bobby easily, leaning to pick up his guitar.  
Alex settled in behind his drums and Reggie grabbed his bass. They worked through a couple of Luke’s more recent songs. None of them commented on his slightly wavering voice or that he missed more than a few chords, something that would have driven him crazy any other day.

The tension in the room was palpable as they neared the end of rehearsal. None of them wanted to leave when their friend was so obviously upset but Bobby and Alex both had curfews of their own.  
Eventually Alex sighed and said “Sorry guys but I’ve got to get home soon.”  
“Yeah me too.” Said Bobby.

They looked somewhat expectantly at Luke who was still strumming his guitar slightly and staring pointedly at the floor as if it held the answers to the universe. 

“I think I might stay here tonight.” Said Reggie cautiously. It wouldn’t be the first time he had stayed the night. In fact all of them had been known to sleep over on occasion when things got too tense at home. At this statement Luke’s shoulders appeared to relax a bit. 

Biting his lip nervously Alex said “You know what, I think I’ll stay too. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a sleepover, I’ll just call my parents. It’s Friday anyway so there’s no reason for my parents to say no.”  
Reggie looked at Luke and asked as casually as possible, “You in Luke?”

Luke nodded and went to set down his guitar. The boy's concern for him had only grown. They had seen Luke after fights with his parents before, and yeah he had been quiet and a little tense, but usually rehearsal, music, fixed that for him. Brought him back to himself and put the shine back in his eyes. Right now he was too still, too quiet, and frankly didn’t seem like Luke at all.

Bobby, whose parents were the strictest of the bunch knew he couldn’t stay. So he waved goodbye quietly, sharing a meaningful look with Alex and Reggie before heading out. He knew they would keep him in the loop. 

Alex and Reggie were a little unsure what to do now and stood around awkwardly. Luckily Luke took the lead, even after the hour they had spent playing in the relative warmth of the garage he was shivering occasionally. At this point he didn’t know if it was from cold or emotion. He walked over to the bag he had brought with him and had left with his acoustic and pulled his blue sweater vest from it. In the meantime Alex and Reggie sat on the couch, carefully positioning themselves on the opposite sides. An obvious invitation for Luke to sit in the middle. 

As Luke crossed the room back towards his friends he considered sitting in his old lawn chain beside the couch instead. He was trying so hard to hold it together and being that close to his friends would only make him more emotional. But his desperate need for contact right now won out and he settled himself between them. 

His mind was going a million miles a minute. Shouts from earlier still echoing in his head. He had fought with his mom before, of course he had. But not like this. Tonight was different. They had both said such awful things. She had threatened to force him to quit the band, and while she had never exactly approved of his “hobby” as she called it, she had also never threatened to take it from him. Music was his lifeline. His thing. His connection to the world. If he was honest with himself it was the one thing he was good at. He tried in school, when he was younger but nothing ever seemed to stick for him, but music, music was as easy as breathing. In fact sometimes he thought music was more important than breathing. His parents didn’t understand, even though he tried to explain. He knew he was partially to blame, he got defensive and emotional when they brought it up and it always ended in both him and his mom in tears.

He sat between his friend stewing silently. His emotions alternated wildly from rage to sorrow to regret back to rage. In the meantime Alex and Reggie sat pressed against him. When Alex noticed his hand was clenched so tight his knuckles were turning white he silently took his hand and held it until he relaxed slightly.

The boys knew him. They knew each other so well it was surprising that they couldn’t read each other’s minds. Each of them dealt with his emotions differently and they had learned how best to help each other. Alex needed frequent verbal reassurances. Needed to be told that everything was alright. Reggie needed to laugh, to be distracted. He would talk about his problems when he was ready, but until then it was better just to keep him busy. Luke needed contact. He needed to be comforted through touch, it grounded him. Helped him to be still enough to catch up with his thoughts. 

The whole time he was sitting there Reggie and Alex kept up a constant simple conversation. Reggie’s hand resting gently on his shoulder and Alex playing idly with his fingers. Occasionally they would ask Luke’s opinion, trying to prevent him getting too lost in his thoughts. He knew they were worried, that they wanted him to talk. But if he told them about tonight he was scared he would break down completely. He had been so exhausted lately and he felt like he was constantly on the verge of tears. Tonight had just been the icing on the cake of what had been an incredibly long and painful couple of months. If he broke now all the ugly thoughts and fears crawling through his mind would come spilling out. He couldn’t handle that. Not right now. And while the more logical part of him knew his friends would want him to share, part of him was afraid to burden them. They both had enough going on as it was. 

As it approached midnight Reggie made a bit of a bold decision. He turned himself on the couch to look at Luke and said seriously “Dude, what happened tonight?”

Alex and Luke both stiffened slightly at his uncharacteristic boldness. Luke considered lying, considered playing dumb and asking what Reggie was talking about. But these were his bandmates, his best friends and right now they were the only family he had. Before he could stop it the wall he had been building inside cracked and tears began to fall freely down his face. Alex and Reggie both looked heartbroken, their chest physically aching for the boy they considered their brother. 

Luke’s hands were shaking and he was sobbing so hard it was difficult to breath. It felt like every bit of hurt and pain he had been holding in for the past few months was hitting him all at once. His chest ached and his vision blurred. He was vaguely aware of Reggie’s arms around him. Of Alex’s hand gently rubbing his back. Though the words weren’t clear he could hear them both murmuring assurances to him. He had no idea how long they sat like that. How long they held him as he finally allowed himself to fall apart. He hadn’t cried like this since he was a little kid, hadn’t allowed himself to come undone this completely in years. 

Eventually his breathing evened, except for the occasionally hiccup or gasp. He ran out of tears to cry and was left feeling hollow. When he had settled, Reggie shifted to look him in the eye. Luke immediately missed his arms around him, but was soon comforted by Alex hugging him from behind. 

Looking Luke right in the eye Reggie asked “Can you talk about it now?” His voice was as gentle as it has ever been.

Luke hesitated before whispering hoarsely, his voice nearly gone from sobbing, “I don’t know where to start…”

“Start with the first thing that comes to mind. Just say whatever you can, whatever you want. Word vomit, it doesn’t matter if it makes sense, we can help you sort through it later. But, dude, you need to say something, okay? Whatever this is, I can tell you need to get it off your chest.” Alex’s voice was gentle, but firm enough it left no room for argument.

Luke bit his lip, hesitated and then started to speak. He told them everything. The pressure he’d been feeling for the band to succeed. How he was sure music was his thing. How he tried and failed to explain to his parents. How he tried so hard to make them proud. He talked about how they fought. About what his mom said. About what he said. He spoke of the guilt that had been gnawing at him. He told them everything, absolutely everything. It wasn’t always clear what he was trying to express, it wasn’t poetry by any stretch, but his best friends continued to sit by him, listening patiently and gently prompting him when he stammered and couldn’t find the words. Eventually he ended with, “I can’t go home… the things she said… what I said… I just can’t.”

At some point without even realising it, he had started to cry again. Reggie gently reached out and wiped the tears from his cheeks with his thumb. 

“It’s okay” Alex murmured, resting his head on Luke’s back. “We’ll figure this out okay?”

Luke sighed, he was exhausted. “Okay” He mumbled back. After a few more minutes Alex and Reggie convinced him to lay down and get some sleep. They sat on the floor by the couch speaking quietly until they were certain he was asleep before finding their own places to spend the night.

The next day they didn’t talk about it. Luke didn’t want to. Alex tried to bring up their conversation from the night before but Luke was quick to change the subject. As the weeks passed he continued to not talk about it. Eventually the other boys accepted it, he needed space and they would give it to him. Bobby had been told enough of the story by Reggie and Alex to leave it well enough alone. 

The boys had expected that Luke would eventually go home but as the weeks passed and he continued to live in the garage they began to accept it as the new normal. The tip money they made on the pier became more of a keep Luke fed fund than anything else. Though that was just another thing they didn’t talk about, knowing Luke would be embarrassed. Without his allowance Luke was struggling to come up with his share of the rent for the garage, so he spent more time busking than ever before. It wasn’t that he had been a particularly good student before, but it surprised the band when after about a week of not going to class Luke mentioned that he didn’t plan on going back at all. In the absence of school Luke threw himself into music, he spent his days down by the pier earning tips or hiding away in the studio writing song after song. Things settled and seemed to get a bit better, though Luke continued to refuse to talk about any of what happened.

While he did his best to hide it Luke wasn’t completely himself. The usual energy and light in his eyes seemed dimmed, but he was alright enough. The band kept a wary eye on him. Making up excuses to stay the night, not that they needed to given their own home lives. They brought him leftovers from their meals at home and blankets they claimed weren’t being used anyway. Luke showed his gratitude in small hugs and hand squeezes, finding it too difficult to tell the boys out loud just how much their love and support meant to him. 

Luke came into the studio one night with a leaf caught in his hair, a leaf suspiciously like those from the bushes in front of his house, and red eyes. The band noticed but said nothing. When it came to Luke it was hard to know what to say. They wanted to reach out, but Luke was guarded. He looked out for his friends with a surprising ferocity, and was always willing to lend an ear to any of their problems, but when it came to his own feelings his lips were sealed. So they did the best they could, they practiced harder, not only for themselves but for Luke. 

The first time they came close to speaking about his parents again was when Luke asked them in an unsure voice, quite unlike his usual confident tone, if they would try a new song he had written. They all agreed quickly, always eager to work on new material. The song he showed them was not what they expected, it was unlike anything they had ever played before. They had all held back tears when he sang Unsaid Emily to them for the first time. They tried again to talk about it but Luke shook his head and doggedly avoided the subject. It was clear that the song was the best he could do at expressing his emotions. The band understood music was Luke’s way of speaking, through his songs he could say things much too scary and personal for ordinary conversation. So they paid attention to what he wrote, and though most of his songs sounded upbeat they boys didn’t miss the subtler lines that hinted at his true feelings. They were extra affectionate every time he wrote something new and made sure Luke knew he had their support one hundred percent.

Then they got booked at the Orpheum, all thanks to the effort Luke had been tirelessly putting into the band. It was like music was the only thing in his life that mattered anymore, maybe it was. When they booked the gig the light had come back, like the boy they knew before had returned. Luke was hyper, eager, he greeted each day with anticipation. While it was stressful, terrifying really, to have so much riding on this one gig, he knew they were going to rock. He made sure to say as much to the boys everyday, going on about how this would make them huge, how it would change everything. They were all excited, ecstatic, but they saw what it meant for Luke. Saw how he was using this as proof that it hadn’t been for nothing, that he was right in following his dreams. Still, he didn’t mention his parents and by now the band knew not to. If they caught him getting two tickets to the show they didn’t mention that either.


End file.
